Position Summary

The Product Development Metallurgist leads and coordinates the development, evaluation, and continuous improvement of specialty steel products. Serving as the primary liaison for product development initiatives, this role manages development activities from concept through implementation, ensuring effective collaboration across operations, quality, technical, and commercial functions. The position provides metallurgical expertise, process control guidance, and data-driven analysis to optimize product performance, manufacturing efficiency, quality, and cost.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee product development activities, including trial planning, execution, performance evaluation, and implementation of follow-up actions.
• Act as the central point of contact for product development initiatives by organizing and facilitating meetings, documenting outcomes, communicating action items, and coordinating onsite development efforts.
• Develop, maintain, and manage trial documentation, including trial plans, operating parameters, process conditions, and performance results to support accurate analysis and decision-making.
• Analyze product cost, quality, and performance metrics to evaluate effectiveness, identify improvement opportunities, and drive product and process optimization initiatives.
• Collaborate with operations, quality, engineering, technical, and commercial teams to support development trials, troubleshoot metallurgical and process-related issues, and improve product consistency and performance.
• Provide metallurgical expertise and technical guidance to support process control, product quality, operational effectiveness, and long-term product reliability.
• Deliver training and technical support on metallurgy, steelmaking processes, and process control methodologies to enhance workforce knowledge and operational performance.
• Identify, recommend, and lead continuous improvement initiatives that improve product capability, manufacturing efficiency, quality performance, and customer value.
• Support organizational objectives by adhering to all company, departmental, safety, quality, environmental, and ethical standards, policies, and procedures.

Success Factors

• Strong knowledge of metallurgy, specialty steel products, and manufacturing processes.
• Ability to lead cross-functional projects and drive product development initiatives from concept through commercialization.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and data interpretation skills.
• Effective communication and collaboration skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Commitment to continuous improvement, operational excellence, and customer-focused product development.

As a Senior Metallurgical Engineer, you will play a critical role in supporting and advancing my Client’s manufacturing and materials performance objectives. You will provide technical leadership across metallurgical processes, quality systems, and production operations to ensure products meet the highest standards of performance and reliability.

Key Responsibilities

Metallurgical Analysis & Process Support

• Perform metallurgical evaluations including microstructural characterization, mechanical testing, heat-treatment verification, and failure analysis.
• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot metal-processing routes such as casting, forging, heat treating, welding, rolling, and machining.
• Monitor material quality throughout the manufacturing cycle and ensure full compliance with material and process specifications.

Production Floor Support

• Provide hands-on technical guidance to operators, technicians, and supervisors to resolve metallurgical and process-related issues.
• Lead root-cause investigations related to defects, non-conformances, and metallurgical equipment or process deviations.
• Support daily production activities with real-time problem-solving and technical decision-making.

Quality & Compliance

• Ensure metallurgical processes align with industry standards (ASTM, ISO, etc.) and meet customer-specific requirements.
• Prepare, review, and maintain metallurgical documentation, including test reports, process records, and certification packages.
• Review and approve material certifications, mechanical test results, and metallurgical data for product release.

Continuous Improvement & Development

• Identify opportunities to enhance product performance, manufacturing yield, and throughput.
• Lead metallurgical trials, process experiments, and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Contribute to new product development, qualification testing, and introduction of new materials or process technologies.

Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related discipline.
• Experience in a heavy manufacturing environment (steelmaking, foundry, forging, machining, fabrication, or similar).
• Strong knowledge of metal properties, heat-treatment processes, material specifications, and failure mechanisms.
• Proficiency with metallurgical laboratory equipment such as hardness testers, optical microscopes, tensile testers, spectrometers, and related tools.
• Ability to work effectively on the shop floor, diagnose issues in real time, and communicate clearly with production teams.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, technical writing, and documentation skills.
• Familiarity with quality systems (ISO, AS, customer-specific standards) and adherence to industrial safety practices.

Additional Qualifications (Preferred)

• Experience with alloy steels, stainless steels, non-ferrous alloys, or high-temperature materials.
• Knowledge of welding metallurgy, casting metallurgy, or advanced material characterization techniques.
• Background in process modeling, heat-treatment modeling, or statistical process control (SPC) is a plus.